ChoicePoint data theft widens to 145,000 people

ChoicePoint has confirmed that scammers culled the personal information of tens of thousands of Americans in a recent attack on its consumer database, resulting in 750 individual cases of identity theft.

The Atlanta-based company said that it plans to inform approximately 110,000 consumers outside the state of California whose information may have been accessed in the criminal scheme, originally reported on Tuesday. The company has already told some 35,000 Californians that their personal data, including their names, addresses, Social Security numbers and credit reports, was stolen by scammers. California is the only U.S. state with legislation in place that requires companies to notify its residents when their personal data has been compromised.

ChoicePoint also said that law enforcement officials informed the company of 750 cases of identity theft tied directly to the incident. One California man has already pleaded no contest to felony charges related to the ChoicePoint attack, while federal and state law enforcement agencies continue to look for others involved in the operation.